A gentle breeze drifted by, Olivia Thompson’s robes fluttering lightly, her hair still damp from a recent bath. Though dressed in men’s clothing, her girlish charm could no longer be concealed. Yet she possessed a pair of strikingly heroic eyes, and with her long spear at her side and upright posture, she exuded a pride and dignity unlike any ordinary girl.

She’s actually a very beautiful young lady...

William Foster’s eyes flickered as he asked, “Still not resting?”

Olivia Thompson kept a stern face and said, “You’re short on medicinal herbs and a good alchemy furnace, aren’t you?”

“So what if I am?”

“A furnace that suits you personally, even if someone brings it for you, might not be satisfactory. And your finances...” Olivia Thompson glanced around, a mocking smile appearing on her lips, “I’m afraid you can’t afford much of what you need.”

“What’s that got to do with you?”

“This young... this young master is hiring you as my family’s alchemist. You only need to serve me as your master and refine pills for me. All your needs will be covered by my family.”

“You’re sick.” William Foster rolled his eyes. “Still calling yourself ‘young master’? Haven’t you had enough of being strung up?”

“You!”

“By the way, what if I said what I need is you? Would your family cover that?”

Olivia Thompson’s expression turned ashen. “William Foster, do you even know what you’re saying?”

“No idea,” William Foster replied. “Being kept means I’m supposed to warm your bed, right? You want to keep me but won’t let me do that. As someone with professional integrity, I’d feel bad about it, so forget it.”

Olivia Thompson barely restrained the urge to stab him with her spear, spun around with a swish, and slammed the door with a bang.

In his sea of consciousness, Alice Carter’s voice rose: “Tsk tsk, men who don’t understand romance. The girl’s just a bit proud—what’s wrong with saying a few sweet words to coax her?”

William Foster replied lazily, “You know the big yellow dog at the village entrance?”

“What about it?”

“That dog’s pitiful, licking Old Xu’s shoes every day, but Old Xu won’t even build it a doghouse. Goes to show, bootlickers don’t get a home.”

“...” Alice Carter was long used to William Foster’s occasional bizarre remarks and didn’t take it seriously, just grumbled, “Say, are you not interested in women? I’ve never seen you talk much to any woman. I thought you just didn’t care for the village girls. But this girl—her skin is like jade, her features heroic and extraordinary—even I’m moved, yet you show no reaction at all.”

William Foster was actually surprised. “Hey, what do you mean? One moment you’re urging me to cultivate immortality, the next you’re pushing me toward women? Aren’t those two things contradictory?”

Alice Carter was silent for a moment, as if wanting to say something but holding back, then suddenly laughed. “Though that’s the general idea, it’s not as black and white as you think. The orthodox sects have dual cultivation, the demonic path has yin-yang harvesting. One day, when you set foot on the path to immortality, if you’re still huddled in a corner with your arms crossed like a scaredy-cat, I might have to watch you constantly panic and say, ‘Hey, fairy, please have some self-respect.’”

Chapter 6: Tiger Slaying

At this moment, Ethan Thompson was walking alone to the mountain peak, where the clouds and mist gathered thickest. Jagged rocks jutted out everywhere, their shapes blurred in the fog, making the place look somewhat like a fairyland.

He reached out to touch one; the rock’s edges were rough, showing it hadn’t been touched much by people—nothing special. But faint, dried bloodstains could be seen on the surrounding stones, as if someone had been badly wounded here, their blood spilled atop the peak.

He pondered for a moment, then deliberately scraped his hand on a rock edge, smearing a bit of blood on it, and waited intently for a while—nothing happened.

So the bloodstains really were unrelated, no secret there.

However, the ground was crisscrossed with intricate, irregular patterns whose purpose was unclear—more like a child’s idle scribbles.

Ethan Thompson thought for a moment, then took off a jade pendant from his waist and placed it nearby.

The mist, which had seemed to avoid him before, now avoided the jade pendant instead. Ethan Thompson shook his head, a faint glow rising around him as his outward-flowing true energy kept the mist at bay.

These were indeed “resentful energies,” but they weren’t avoiding him because of his own ferocity, but because of his treasure. Still, their martial artists’ true energy could also suppress these resentful energies—nothing to worry about.

Ethan Thompson put away the jade pendant and was about to look for the strange tiger among the rocks. Just then, a stench wafted from the center of the rocks. He gripped his spear and stared, and in the darkness, a pair of blood-red eyes the size of copper bells slowly appeared.

A tiger, half as tall as a man, emerged. Ethan Thompson narrowed his eyes, noting the fleshy wings on the tiger’s back, already several feet long when spread. In those blood-colored pupils was a hint of annoyance at being disturbed. Compared to the mutated wild boar he’d seen before, this tiger clearly possessed some intelligence... it had become a demon.

With a roar, the tiger leapt at him.

Ethan Thompson, wanting to test the so-called “not chasing people,” withdrew from the rocky formation.

Sure enough, the tiger seemed blocked by something and couldn’t get out.

Ethan Thompson’s gaze fell again on the patterns on the ground, and he smiled slightly. This must be the formation binding the tiger—there truly was an expert here.

“In that case, let me take care of it for you.”

Ethan Thompson’s spear trembled, whipping out in the shape of a silver dragon. As the spear howled through the air, it sounded like a dragon’s roar.